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Energy firms 'must face licence axe' to help customers

New regulator would be able to revoke licences of suppliers that repeatedly act against interests of customers, under new Labour proposals.

Shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint accused the Government of presiding over a "broken energy market" and said Labour would hand a tough new regulator the capability to cancel energy companies' licences.

Labour plans energy crackdown through new regulator

A Labour government would give a new energy regulator the power to revoke energy companies' licences to help protect the interests of the public, the party announced today.

Labour plans energy crackdown though new regulator Credit: PA

Shadow energy and climate change secretary Caroline Flint accused the Government of presiding over a "broken energy market" and said Labour would hand a tough new regulator the capability to cancel energy companies' licences where there were repeated instances of the most "serious and deliberate breaches of their licence conditions which harm the interests of consumers".

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, she claimed, showed energy companies had continued to "mistreat their customers" and face another 16 probes into mis-selling, poor customer service and other bad practice, despite Ofgem issuing 30 fines, totalling more than £87 million since 2001.